What comes next?
by Marcruz
Summary: The six friends face off against the Nasod King to finally bring an end to all the chaos, but once all the fighting is done, what will The Reckless Fist Raven do now that his fist is no longer needed? Has he finally reached redemption?
1. The Final Battle

It had been a long battle to reach this moment. Raven, a tall tan man stood in front of the gates to Altera's Core, the location where he and his friends would find the Nasod King and end his reign once and for all. His black and red left arm ached and he grasped it tightly. His arm, once machine, was now a bio metal, living and breathing along with him, fighting for control. It was a path he choose when he had regained consciousness of his body. The terror of being controlled by his arm never really left him, but at this very moment he didn't care about the aches and pains that came with fighting for control, he was ready to fight the very race that brought his half dead body back to life and turned him into a monster that destroyed homes and tore apart families. His mind will never find peace until he redeems his actions, and this was the perfect way to do it.

"Are you alright Raven?" The black clothed man looked to his right to see an elf. She fancied the bow and arrow and had a face that closely resembled the one of his dead fiancé, Seris.

"I am fine Rena." He answer. As they spoke, the rest of his team walked closer to the large gates.

"What lies beyond these doors?" Asked a blonde gunner in the group, Chung. He used twin pistols along his large cannon he dubbed "destroyer".

"I wish I could say, I have not been within the Nasod kind in too long of a period to have any useful information." Said the pervious Nasod Queen, Eve. She had upgraded her program using the "exotic" code, and just recently the "nemesis" code.

"Whatever is inside, we need to get through it to get to the Nasod King." Said Elsword, the Lord Knight of the group. His had grown well from the over confident kid who Raven had met what seemed like so long ago. The girl to his left, our elemental master, Aisha nodded and added.

"Elsword is right, this is it. Once we defeat the King, we can finally retrieve the El Stone, we can restore peace to the land and turn all of the wild creatures back to normal."

"Not to mention tone down all these 'natural' disasters." Added Chung. Raven stretched his left arm to try to loosen up his contracting muscles. Rena looked worried, but also readied her bow. Elsword opened the gates and the group walked inside. Everything seemed quiet, giving the entire structure an eerie atmosphere. The silence pulled at everyone's nerves. As they walked further in, the light became dimmer and dimmer, also a strange creaking slowly got louder and loader. The sound when from a barely hearable hum to a loud hiss. At this point the only one who culd see anything really was eve with her robotic eyes which would adjust to the light instantly. Her eyes widened as she saw her chaser ally get close to something.

"Wait, CHUNG!" Eve screamed out, but it was too late, he tipped of an alarm, a red laser had been place at torso height for intruders to bump into. All at once the room light up bright, blinding more of the party, many Nasod soldiers teleported to where Chung stood. Though blind, he still knew he was surrounded. He quickly summoned his twin pistols and began his trigger happy session. It didn't take long for their eyes to adjust and everyone saw Chung standing in the middle of 6 Nasod machines, all neutralized.

"That wasn't very tough." The deadly chase said quite cheeky. Elsword readied his sword and said.

"You might want to look behind you." Chung did so and saw a long corridor with more Nasod he had ever seen in one place before. His gun shots had did more than alert them of their presence, in an instant, more laser emerged.

"Uhh...opps?" Chung said slowly. All at once they were ambushed by white machines. Everyone fought together in harmony.

Raven charged with his left arm in his signature skill, Limit Breaker. He sustained some damage, but his fast punch left a shielder flinched from taking such a strong punch head on. At once, Rena took aim and shot a flurry of arrows over Raven's shoulder, hitting the shielder and plenty of other Nasod. Elsword rushed into the midst of the chaos along with Raven. His blade came tip first into a Nasod's head, which he then used to propel himself up, creating and opening for Chung to go trigger happy once more. Aisha and Eve didn't waste time to launch magical orb blasts, some of fire and the others of lighting. The party of six made haste as they ran and fought through the long corridor of Altera's Core. Raven had long forgotten about the pain he had felt before, the heat of battle always took numbed his body, it was almost...pleasant. Before long they reached a platform that began to take them down a level.

"Think the King is at the lowest level?" Asked Elsword as he pointed his sword at Nasod Bladers that just teleported to the platform. Eve nodded as her drones opened their mouths to spawn more lighting orbs. to pierce through the wave of enemies. They Nasod began to swarm in in larger numbers. Eve took sight of a certain kind and said.

"Watch for those, they are Type-W9, they hold hidden blades in their wrists." Before she could finish her sentence, however, Raven had already punched a hole through the head of one of the W9. Eve seemed a little impressed and carried on with the battle ahead. Again the party fought through hundreds of Nasod until reaching another platform, no doubt that lead down again. Before they could on, however, the Nasod Twins Ignis and Leviathan teleported in front of them.

"Them again?" exclaimed Chung. "You guys go ahead, I'll handle them!"

"Have you gone mad? It took all of us last time to defeat them last time." Aisha said, trying to pull Chung away from his crazy idea.

"Then leave us both behind, I'll keep him alive." Said Eve as she stepped forward to aid Chung, who seemed a little relieved by her offer.

"We can't split up now! We hav-" Aisha's shouder was grabbed by Raven who pulled her away.

"We can't argue right now! If we don't hurry we'll end up surrounded, we can handle them if they come in waves, but there is power in numbers, I for one, don't want to be over whelmed."

The elemental master looked over at Elsword who nodded in agreement. Against her better judgment, she followed her friends and left Chung and Eve behind to fight the twins. The duo left behind began their assault on the Elemental Twin Nasods.

Raven and the others could hear metal being torn apart, but there being a knight in armor and a robot, it didn't exactly mean the metal cracking was the Nasod twin's.

Again the elevator held an ambush. The archer, sorceress, and sword users where clearly getting tired of this already. They had no choice but to deal with it. They continued to fight and Raven could feel his consciousness begin to leave him slowly. It was a strange feeling, he had never fought so many enemies before, it was eccentric and he raved for more and more. He knew that if he continued to fight he might succumb to his arms influence, and if he had the choice, he would have halt combat that moment, but the constant wave of enemies did not give him the luxury of taking a breather.

"AHHH!" Raven heard Aisha scream as she became surrounded by W9s, they all readied their blade and began an assault, but Aisha was all out of mana for an area of affect spell, she could fend off one, but the others would land a deadly strike no doubt. Raven ran as fast he could and jumped over the crowd and took Aisha into his arms while shouting.

"Charged Bolt! Hedgehog!" Raven was then wrapped around a black quill of sorts that then expanded sharp spikes that pierced through all of the surrounding Nasod. The quill unwrapped itself and the robots exploded just as the elevator landed on the bottom floor.

"Next time...Conserve your mana..." Raven said between pants of exhaustion. Rena and Elsword made their way to them.

"Are you two alright?" The Lord Knight asked with a worried expression. Raven let Aisha go who was half way blushing.

"Yes, we have to keep going. We don't have time to take a break." Raven said getting up rather unsteadily. He stumbled slightly, his arm began to ache again and everyone could tell. Rena caught him and he hesitantly accepted her aid to help him stand.

"You're in no condition to fight right now." The words annoyed Raven and he less than gently pushed the elf away and stood on his own.

"There is no time to argue. We do this now." Raven looked Elsword straight in the eye and the Knight just couldn't help but comply, lest his anger his ally more. Again they set out and as the fight raged, everyone took notice at how Raven was now favoring his blade more. Rena have a worried look at him, his Nasod arm starting to let off steam from how hot it was getting.

The four man squad cut through the waves of Nasod who seem to replenish in their numbers just as quickly as they were cut down. It did not take long after that before they reached yet another platform.

"This one will lead us into the core." Aisha said as she pointed at where the rails led. Everyone began to board the elevator, but an attacker came from above. Raven had lagged behind slightly and was able to see it. He ran and jumped to get a grip of it. He then through to back into the corridor. In the light everyone got a good look at the attacker and Raven's anger spiked. It was the Crow Rider, a Nasod who took on the form and skills of Raven while he was controlled by his Nasod arm.

"You guys go on ahead." Raven said in a monotone voice.

"What? You're going to try to fight it alone?!" Rena asked as she looked him over, his arm was clearly still burning and hurting him, she tried to open her mouth again, perhaps to convince him to at least let her stay and fight alongside him.

"This is something I have to do on my own." Raven said before she could speak. "You all have a mission to complete, and I have redemption to find." Rena was about to step off the platform but Elsword grabbed a hold of her and shock his head when she looked over at him. In silence they left as Raven stretched his arm again, readying it for one last fight. The trio all turned to the core as a gate opened and the white veil light covered them.

"Just like when we first began huh?" Elsword said a little nostalgically. No one else said anything, but they all agreed.


	2. It's Finally Over

"Limit Breaker!" Raven shouted as he charged as fast he could in a punch with his nasod arm. The punch stunned Crow Rider which Raven used to strike more with his sword. He continued his combo and the whole fight would be over in an instant as he readied a final strike, but Raven flinched, his arm began to hurt erratically. The dark skinned man was wide open and the Nasod robot took the opportunity it saw in front of it. With a pierce of its blade, Raven's right shoulder was damaged. By reflex, Raven let go of his blade as his slide back trying to get away from Crow Rider. Though he managed to dodge the combo, he was now without a weapon and two injured arms. Against his better judgment, he was now going to have to depend on his nasod arm for combat.

The Crow Rider spoke in Raven's voice as it taunted him. He couldn't make out what he said, but he didn't exactly care. The fact it was using his voice only angered him more. Again the pain in his arm began to numb down, through pure will power he lifted his fist in a fighting stance, one he hadn't used since his military days. Crow Rider charged this time, using the same move Raven had used earlier. It was as time slowed down, his eyes didn't move as he stared into Crow Rider's helmet glass. With his left hand Raven pushed the robots arm to the side, it tried to follow up with blade strike, but Raven clenched his fist and hit the blade in a parry with the back of his fist. The strike must have been stronger than Raven had intended, for it broke the blade in half, sending the broken shard flying across the corridor. Left open, Raven took a stance and punched with his left arm. He followed it up with a right upper cut. Though it didn't do much, it managed to get the Crow Rider to flinch and he continued his left right combo of strikes. With each punch Raven seemed to gain momentum. Sub consciously Raven had started screaming as he threw his fists at his opposite. His loud grunts echoed through the halls of the Altera Core.

Raven began to feel happy, a strange feeling now of all times. He held a smile on his face as he continued to fight the Crow Rider. The robot could try to counter Raven, but he ducked to avoid the strike and carried on with his punches. Unaware to Raven, the Crow Rider had stopped functioning some time ago and finally fell to the ground. Raven climbed on top of it and laughed hysterically as he continued to punch with his nasod arm. The smile he had on his blood tainted face would scare even the most experienced veterans of war. The Crow Rider had long ago become unrecognizable but Raven continued to punch and punch.

As Raven lifted his fist for another punch a whip gripped his wrist. He turned to see what had 'interrupted' his fight. Not but a few meters away stood Eve and Chung, the later having a terrified look on his face.

"I believe you have won already Raven." Eve said in her monotone voice. Hearing her had suddenly brought Raven back to his senses and suddenly he realized he had been pounded nothing more than metal scrap now. Raven looked frightened why what he done as he stared at his hands.

"A-Are you alright Raven?" Chung asked as he hesitantly stepped closer.

"Y-Yeah...I was just...caught in the moment." Raven said as he stood up. In front of him stood Eve who held out his blade.

"It might be a good idea to keep that with you, might cause you to remain sane next time you fight." She said with an indifferent face. Was she genuinely worried or mocking him? Raven could never tell with her, but right now he didn't care. He slowly nodded and took hold of his blade and Eve began to lead the way further into the core. Raven and Chung followed and soon they were at what remained of the core. It was nothing but ruins now. A large nasod robot laid in the middle, lifeless and broken. How had Raven not heard this amount of destruction that had taken place? Off in the corner of some rubble sat Elsword who was being mended by Aisha, his shoulder had taken quite the beating. The "rebellious" trio made their way to the "imperial" trio. Rena, who had emerged from behind some broken pipes took one look at Raven and shrieked slightly.

"Oh Goodness, Raven are you alright?" The elf ran over to him and turned her head to Chung and asked. "What happened?" The retired paladin remained quiet, he knew Raven probably didn't want Rena to know what he had seen.

"We found him like that." Answered Even in Chung's sted. "By the time we finished off the nasod twins Raven was sitting and waiting. As you can see he got hurt during his fight."

Rena gave Raven a worried look and proceeded bring Raven to where Aisha had the first aid kit. He sat down next to Elsword who had a large grin on his face.

"So did you get it?" Asked Raven as he began to be treated by Rena.

"You bet I did." Elsword said with a very pleased look on his face. In his hands was the El Stone, the one thing they had all being fighting to retrieve. Everyone regrouped and camped at the core for the night. That night Raven couldn't sleep, whether had been his shoulder hurting, or his thoughts on what had taken over him the previous day, he just didn't sleep. That night he made up his mind.

* * *

Everyone began to leave the Altera Core and make back to the pongo village. Eve decided she wanted to stay back at the core.

"But why? It's nothing more than rubble now." Asked Chung at the gates they had entered the night before.

"I used to be the Nasod Queen, I took responsibility for what my race had done to this world, but now I wish to know _why_. I will remain here and look through the data on this 'retired' King to find out just what went wrong." Eve said as she turned around and closed the gates, leaving everyone behind outside.

Everyone shrugged it off and walked back. Raven noticed how Chung's awkwardness had faded around him. He was actually quite surprised since he himself hadn't gotten over it yet. Then again, Nothing seemed to phase Chung anyway, he had really become laid back since he took his Deadly Chaser title. Almost as he had given up on his paladin role from back when he was just a kid. It did not take long to get back to the village of pongos where they were greeted by a parade. Every one of those little fuzzy creatures were happy to see Elsword back, with the El no less. Though Elsword was grateful for how they were welcomed, he wanted to hurry back to Ruben to return the El to the El tree. They kept their visit brief and began their route back to where it had all began and where Rena, Aisha, and Elsword had first met. They passed through Bethma and Elder, where they were given similar welcomes, but it wasn't until they reached Ruben that they felt the most relieved. Slowly Elsword made his way to the tree that had once held the gem he now had in his hand. Raven watched as his friend placed the El back in the tree and it glowed brightly. The light radiated across the land and everything became quiet, the creatures, once full with wrath and spite, now calm once more. Raven saw this as some sort of metaphor for his own life. He did not wait for the others, at once he turned and made his way out of the forest, though he was stopped by Rena.

"Is everything ok?" She asked as he turned to face her.

"Yes, it's all over. This is the redemption I was seeking, I have fixed what I had once broken." Raven said, sounding a little said.

"Then, where are you going?" She asked

"Look at me Rena. I have done everything I could to get more and more powerful, I have fought to control this arm of mine and for the most part I won. But what is a weapon of war to do in a time of peace?" Raven looked at his elf friend straight in her eyes. "I know how to fight, nothing else, and fighting is no longer needed of me. I will retire into mountains of Bethma and remain a hermit until I find use for this arm of mine." Raven pulled his arm away and walked away from Rena, who he knew was probably on the verge of tears. He didn't care, rather, he _couldn't _care. Now was not the time to form bond with others. He had to make sure he didn't go haywire like the day before. He left in peace and quiet.


	3. A Surprise Visit

"Oh you worry too much Rena."Said Elsword to his comrade as he lifted some supplies onto a table.

"But, it's been a week now!" The green haired Rena responded to her red headed friend as she sat at a table, her arms laid across it dramatically. He chuckled.

"What are you, his mother? Raven is a grown man, and he helped me train to reach my Lord Knight title. I'm sure he can take care of himself out in the mountains." He said as he moved more supplies back and forth. Rena just pouted, not knowing how to respond. She had made it back to her elder and told her the El was back. She had thought that Raven would have rejoined the group by the time she had returned.

"Elsword!" screamed out Chung as he slammed the door open, shocking both Elsword and Rena. "Wanna go hit the bar? I hear they're finally getting that awesome cider shipment from Hamel!" Elsword looked at his dear friend over and laughed. Chung usually wasn't a drinker, but Hamel is his home and he was clearly homesick.

"Sure, just let me finish restocking the supplies for the Elder soldiers." Elsword said as he continued to stack crates on top of each other. Chung had a smile that stretched from ear to ear, Rena who still had her head on the table smiled as she saw those two interact, it was almost as if they had switch personalities. Chung used to be so shy and timid, now he's all forward, Elsword on the other hand used to be this stubborn rash kid, but he learned modesty and patience, making him quite the man now.

Rena left those two to catch up and she made her way around the busy streets of Elder. She had been down these streets a thousand times and had grown weary of them, she was slightly homesick, but in truth, she was just missing Raven, someone she had formed a crush on during their travels. She thought that once the battle was over they could start spending time together, but it seems fate wasn't kind to her in that regard.

"It's the Grand Archer!" Yelled out a little kid from behind her. She turned to see Aisha gently smacking a kid on the head. "It's rude to point at people" The purple haired sorceress said. Rena waved and walked over to her as all the kids gathered around.

"Sorry Rena, they seem to have never seen an elf before." Aisha said kind of embarrassed.

"Oh don't worry dear." She said as she kneeled and greeted one of the children. "But what are you doing with all of these kids?"

"Oh, the school needed some help with a magic class, the normal instructor had fallen ill and asked if I could step in for a today. After all, who else could be a better teacher than an Elemental Master." Rena smiled at her friend, if nothing else, Aisha was still her old boastful self, thought to a lesser degree.

* * *

Of in the mountains Raven walked as he carried some wood. The heat blurred the distance, but he seemed unphased by it. It did not take long for him to reach his "home." It was cottage of sorts he had made from logs he himself had cut down. It was fairly nice looking, though small, just enough for a bed and a kitchen, but he did not need much more than that. He set the firewood down next to the door and opened it. To his surprise he found Eve inside.

"Wha-What are you doing here?!" Screamed out Raven in surprise. Eve, who had been inspecting some of the wooden figurines Raven had carved, gently put them down.

"You're quite skilled at carving." She said, completely ignoring his question.

"I've had time to practice..." Raven replied hesitantly. He came in and closed the door behind him, the small room was dimly lit by a small fire he had left on while his stew cooked. Raven walked over and sat on his bed, the only place there was to sit in the small house.

"Oh...I don't think I'm emotionally ready." Eve said as she turned away from Raven. He quickly blushed and stood up angry.

"What?! No don't get the idea here!" Eve chuckled slightly and turned to face him.

"I was but teasing." Raven glared at her as he sat back down. "We both know that I could best you in a fight anyway." Eve said, though this time she got no reply. "Oh? What's this? Usually you're always itching for a fight." Raven looked away

"I don't fight anymore..."

"Is it because of what happened at the core?" Eve said again with a cold voice that pierced Raven. He had still not gotten over what had happened.

"I actually had come here to talk about it." She said as she sat down next to him.

"Oh?"

"I did some research back the core, I found records of when they had taken you in and installed the arm on you." Though a little disturbed at how she referred to getting a mechanical arm attached to a human body an 'installment' Raven continued to listen to Eve. He did not remember any of what had happened, and was curious to find out.

"You were by all means, dead. No pulse to speak off, but your body was salvageable, so the Nasod took your body in and began to implement what they called 'project alpha'. From what I read, they wanted to infiltrate human society using human bodies to blend in. Somehow, you came back to life when they began to restore some vital functions. They saw it as nothing more than a glitch, but it seems that your consciousness did not want to let go of this world yet. I dare say you came back to life by pure will power." Raven had a serious face as he tried to remember what had happened after he was 'killed' by the Velder soldiers. He remembered a white light, he was definitely passing on, but he remembered seeing Seris' dying face. When he recalled that his fists quickly flinched and closed tightly. Eve took notice but didn't say anything.

"To make sure that your consciousness did not take over, hey implanted a control chip in your arm to make sure you followed regulations, but it was faulty. It seems they overlooked a few details while making it. In short, the control chip became an AI by accident, something that was suppose to simply receive order and make you do it, became an entity on its own. which is why when the chip was removed you still had to struggle to control your arm."

"So what are you saying?" Eve swung her snow white hair back. "I'm saying that you now have two consciousness running through your body. Your own, and the AI that was installed onto you."

"Well can I uh.. 'uninstall ' it?" Raven asked a little hesitantly, he had a strange feeling he had referred to himself as a robot just then.

"Well, if I known this a long time ago, I could have, but your arm has evolved into biomech. It is no longer just a machine on a human body, but an exoskeleton of the body, a living breathing part of you now. To uninstall it would mean to tear away not just the arm, but the circuits across your body. It would not be pleasant." Raven looked a little worried as he gazed at his nasod arm. He touched it with his right hand. He did not know when it happened, but at one point he was able to feel things that touched the nasod arm, like if had gotten his left arm back. He was able to feel what he touched and had more 'control' over how it moved. He understood all too well what Eve meant by 'biomech'

"So tell me, why are you helping me?" raven said as he turned to face her. Eve stood up and walked forward a few feet before turning to look at him.

"I want to bring back the nasod race."


	4. A Some What Peaceful Day

"I want to bring back the nasod race." Eve said, her composure still stoic. Raven aggressively stood up, his hands in a tight fist.

"What?! You want to start another war against nasod?!" The dark haired man asked, his voice loud as ever. Eve flipped her hair back with her hand as to mock him.

"Oh please Raven, I would not be stupid enough to want to bring back the same nasod race we just wiped off. I want to bring back the nasod race that I was once part off." To this, Raven calmed down a little, though hesitant to lower his guard just yet.

"I was once queen of the nasod race."

"Yes, you've spouted that multiple times since you joined the group."

"But what you didn't know what that the Nasod King, the huge hunk of scrap tha now lies in the Altera Core once looked like me."

"What? You mean to say he was smaller?" Raven was now slightly confused by where Eve was getting at.

"No, I mean he was once an organic humanoid such as I. I have a biomechanical body much like your left arm there. I can feel outside stimuli and I have the same physical needs as a human, this is what the nasod race once was, humans with biomechanical implants that allowed them to live longer and perform larger feats." As if to interrupt the conversation, Raven's left arm began to burn again, he gripped it tightly and looked at it for a brief second. When he looked back up Eve stood right in front of him.

"I want to bring back the nasod race I once knew from a millennia ago, surely you cannot deny that being the last of your kind is not lonely." Eve looked at Raven who could relate, since he was the last of his squad that survived when the Velder soldiers attacked the camp he was hiding in.

"And all of this has what to do with fixing my arm again?" Eve slowly took a hold of Raven's nasod arm, she summoned one of her drones and plugged wires between it and Raven's arm.

"Every Queen needs her King." She said bluntly. Raven's arm seemed to stop hurting slightly as Eve's drone connected to him. She tinkered a while more before disconnecting the two and stepping back.

"I am not so shallow as to bribe you into becoming my King by fixing your arm. I will do you the favor and once you are a true nasod I would like you to make that choice on your own." Eve said as she turned around and removed the pot of stew Raven was cooking from the fire. He stretched out his arm and noticed how fresh it felt, no aches or pains like before. He studied the biomachine on him and before he realized Eve held a bowl of the stew in front of him. For once, Eve actually seemed kind of cute as she held out the bowl. Raven took the bowl and neither one said anything while they ate. It became an unspoken agreement, he decided to go with Eve's plan and see how he would feel about it after his arm was fixed.

* * *

Rena sat on the roof of the inn she was staying at. It has been her home since she decided to stay in Elder and had been up here dozens of times. She gazed up at the stars and wondered if Raven was looking at them as well.

"Waaaaa hoooooo!" A loud scream broke her train of thought. She glanced down at the street where Elsword was clumsily carrying Chung towards the inn, the latter clearly had too much cider.

"Damn it Chung, you drank enough of that alcohol to bring down an elephant, how the hell are you still moving?"

"Elsword *hic* my dear friend. In *hic*in case you have not noticed, the great and powerful Deadly chaser will not go down *hic* without a fight." Chung's babble made Rena giggle. She should make sure not to forget to get some pain medicine for when morning comes, her dear friend was going to need it.

The night passed much quicker than the elf archer had expected, and morning came soon. As promised to herself, Rena took a glass of water and some pills towards Chung's room. She gently knocked on the door. She only managed to knock once before Chung swung the door open, his index finger by his lips in a "shhhh" gesture. His eyes grey and weary, he clearly did not have a good night's rest.

"I brought you some pain medicine." Rena whispered, however, it sounded like a thundering shout to Chung. He quickly took the trey she was holding, forced a smile and gestured a thank you before closing the door just as fast. Rena couldn't help but smile at his antics. She went down stairs to start to her day, but just as she reached the lobby she heard someone talking with the keeper.

"Is it true? The one and only Chung is residing in this inn?" Rena saw a group of girls trying to get information from the keeper.

"I am sorry, but I am not allowed to just give out that kind of of information, it would be an invasion of privacy."

"So he IS here!" They all giggled and shrieked in delight. Rena moved forward toward them and said quite loudly.

"Now I better hurry, Chung told me to meet him at mayor's statue this morning." The groupie heard and looked at each other before running out into the streets to head to the place Rena mentioned. She laughed as she saw her plan work perfectly. She did not expect to hear another shriek however. Elsword walked through the inn's door a little embarrassed and clearly blushing.

"Yeah sure, I'll make some time then..." He said as he walked in backwards. Somehow he was sure he just made a terrible decision.

"Oh? You have quite some fan girls too it seems." Rena teased as she saw the red head scratch the back of his head.

"Haha...yeah, they said they wanted to see me train."

"Well good luck with that Casanova." Rena said with a wink to finish the tease off.

"Anyway, I came to see how Chung was doing."

"Oh, I don't think he would like to be bothered right now. Has a huge migraine." To this Elsword grinned. Rena face palmed as Elsword tipped toed up the stairs. She decided it would have been a good idea to simply leave for now. She had just made it outside when Elsword's very loud voice resonated across Elder.

"GOOOOOOOOD MORNING OH GREAT AND POWERFUL DEADLY CHASER! HOW DID YOU SLEEP?!" Followed by an even louder shriek of pain. Rena felt a drop of sweat fall on top her head as gun shots were fired. She actually DID plan to meet up with someone. Aisha had requested to have breakfast with her, and she was more than happy to spend some time with her friend, after all, ever since they all returned to Elder, Aisha and Elsword had been busy with work. She maneuvered her way through the busy streets. Everyone knew her, after all, her ears did make her stand out quite a bit. They waved hello, and a salesman even gave her a free apple which she gratefully accepted. It was mornings like these that made Rena feel happy, as everyone else was happy. She had long missed these times, since it had taken years for them to retrieve the El stone.

She reached a small coffee shop where she planned to meet Aisha. As she arrived, she saw her through the window and waved. It did not take long for them to become situated and begin to catch up on recent events.

"So have you made an progress?" Rena teased slightly. Aisha blushed knowing exactly what she was referring to.

"I'm not sure what you're talking about." Said Aisha as she began to hide herself behind her cup.

"Well if you don't hurry, one of his many fan girls will get to him first. After all, I heard this morning he promised he'd have a _private_ training session with a whole group of them." This of course, angered and flustered Aisha who immediately stood up.

"WHAT?! How dare he do that?!" Rena couldn't help but laugh as she gestured for her to sit back down. Aisha looked around and saw everyone in the coffee shop was staring at her. She blushed and sat back down. "Are you telling the truth?" Aisha asked in a whisper.

"When have I ever lied to you? I was right there when it happened." Aisha began to fidget slightly to herself and decided to change the topic.

"Well what about you? How come you haven't gone to visit Raven?" It was Rena's turn to blush. The elf looked down at her coffee and said softly.

"I don't know if I could. I mean if I go visit him then it would just be the two of us. We would be alone...together...in that small house he built..." Rena's mind began to drift off as her mind entered some strange places. Her eyes began to whirl and her cheeks burned red.

"Well you don't have to worry about that. Eve came by a few days ao and asked about Raven, she said she wanted to visit him." Aisha said as she took a sip of her drink. Rena's composure was instantly restored.

"What? Did she mention why?"

"Not sure, I did ask, but she said something about wanting to bring back her race, and needing Raven's help." Oblivious to how she said it, Aisha took another sip of her drink. "Actually, she said it had more to do with helping Raven with his arm, and then using the data to make her race a peaceful one again." Aisha looked up, but Rena was gone. She smiled nervously as she realized that she might have given her the wrong impression.

* * *

Auhtor's Note: I realized the last two chapters where rather short, so I decided to simply update faster to make up for it. Please let me know how you all like the story. :)


	5. A Less Than Peaceful Day

Grasping the blade in his hand tightly, Raven wondered where he was. He looked around and saw himself in a dense fog. He took another look at himself and noticed he had the outfit he wore back when he adventured with Elsword and the group which confused him greatly, he had put those days behind him. He didn't want to fight anymore. As he sighed out he noticed the air around him change subtly. He didn't know what it was, but some sort of killing intent befell upon Raven. From the corner of his eye he saw glaring yellow eyes that pierced in to his soul. Whatever it was, it didn't want him there. Raven had no choice. He reached his left arm out and readied his sword. If it was a fight it wanted, a fight it would receive.

"Ahhh!" Raven woke up to a jolt of pain. He looked to his left and saw Eve messing with her drones which were connected to his nasod arm. She took a short glance at him and spoke out indifferently.

"Oh, apologies. I didn't expect it to hurt that badly." Raven narrowed his eyes slightly at the girl who didn't feel even a little remorse for awakening him with her 'experiments'...again.

It had been 2 days now since Eve 'moved in' with him. He was against the idea, but Eve insisted that if she was to help fix his arm she needed to be in close proximity to him at all times.

"Did you even go to sleep last night?" Raven asked as he sat up and looked at the around the messy little house he had. He had made a separate bed for Eve back when she moved in with him, but it didn't seem like she had even touched it since she arrived.

"Since I no longer have to operate in 'Eve: Battle Phase', I end up saving a lot of energy a day. I will sleep when I begin to run low." Eve said as she began to disconnect wires from Raven's arm. He proceeded to stretch it out only suddenly feel a jolt of pain. A pain he was all too familiar with. He clenched his left wrist as he fought for control over it. Eve's expression became one of distraught as she saw him struggle. It only lasted for a few seconds, but the scene worried her.

"Does that happen often?" She asked with a hint of concern in her voice. Raven, gasping for air looked at her and responded.

"More often than before, and with a bigger jolt." He stood and grabbed his shirt from the chair. "I'll go out and catch us some breakfast."

Eve looked at him as he walked out and looked down at her information that was sliding down the machine he had on her lap. By the amount of neural activity he had in his sleep, he must have been having some sort of dream. For some reason she had the feeling that the dream had something to do with the outburst he had.

Raven continued walking down the dirt row as he stretched his arm back and forth. It was then he realized he forgot to get his blade when he walked out, but thought it a little embarrassing to walk back and get it. He looked at his left hand and sighed. He knew he'd have to use it now. He proceed to do the usual morning routine and make his way to the river where he'd try his luck at catching some fish. As Raven made a turn for the river a green haired elf walked by the same road. Rena began to fidget slightly as she realized she was getting closer to Raven's house. She wasn't sure what to expect since Eve would be there, but she was sure that Raven didn't like her in that way. Before she realized it she stood in front of his door. She took a deep breath and knocked on the door. Rena waited for a few seconds but didn't get a response. A little bewildered she reached for the door knob and cracked the door a little to peek in.

"H-Hello?" She asked out as she looked in. Her eyes opened wide when she saw Eve's dress on the ground and proceeded to open the door all the way. The sight in front of Rena brought only distress as her eye saw Eve in under garments laying on top of what she presumed to be Raven's bed.

"Whaaaaa?!" Screamed out the elf. Her shout awoke the humanoid nasod and she sat up. Eve noticed who it was and greeted her with an indifferent tone.

"Oh hello Rena." Eve said as she laid her head back on Raven's pillow. "What brings you all the way out here?"

"Wha-wha-what are you doing on Raven's bad? Half naked at that!" Eve now seemed slightly annoyed, mostly because Rena ignored her question.

"If you must know, I have been living with Raven for a few days now." She said as she got up, revealing her half nude body out with little modesty. Rena became a mixture of angry and embarrassed as her worst nightmares became a reality.

"Are you saying that you and Raven have..." Her sentence went from a loud shout to a whisper as she trailed off. Eve knew exactly what Rena was thinking, but instead of telling the truth, she thought it might be more entertaining to feed this idea of hers.

"Why yes, what else would a man and woman do when they live together?" Eve held back her smirk as she saw the duress fall over Rena's face. She was left speechless, but a voice from behind her brought her back to reality.

"Rena? What are you doing here?" Raven said as he carried branch with a few fish impaled though them. Without missing a beat, Eve ran past Rena and hugged him.

"Raven! You've brought breakfast." Raven's face became bright red when he saw how little Eve had on. He quickly pushed Her away when he saw Rena just staring at them with a face just as red as his. Though it was obvious her's because of how angry she was. All Rena did was scoff and walk away. Raven handed Eve the fish and ran after the green haired girl. The Nasod Queen couldn't help but smile at her handiwork and walked back into the house to start cooking the fish.

It didn't take long before Raven reached his elf friend.

"Rena wait." He said as he caught his breath. She didn't turn around but stopped walking. "It's not what you think. Eve is just crashing at my place while she fixes my arm." Rena's anger was set aside for a second as she half turns her head to hear him out.

"Fix?" She asked a little worried. Raven nodded and lifted his left arm to show her.

"The arm of mine has always been an issue, you know that. I wanted to seclude myself because of how dangerous it is. But Eve seems to have given me another option. She says that if she can manage to give me back full control of my arm, she might be able to bring back the Nasod race in a more civil and productive manner." Rena still didn't seem completely convinced, but turned to face Raven. Her cheeks puffed up, she asked.

"And that's it? There's nothing special between you and Eve?" She asked him. Raven immediately thought about what Eve had said, about making him 'her king'. He was about to speak up and tell her about it but before he could get a word in Eve spoke from behind him.

"That's right, there's nothing special at all, just call it scientist doing an experiment." The Nasod said as she walked up to them, more clothed this time. "That back there was just something I did for entertainment purposes." She added with a smirk.

Rena was not amused with Eve's sense of humor, but sighed out and began to laugh. Raven could feel the atmosphere lift and he too chuckled slightly, though a little confused as to why Eve said what she did.

"By the way Raven." Eve said "I left the fish rotating on the fire."

"Ok good, did you take the scales off and gut them?" Eve looked a little confused.

"No, I just impaled them all and placed them by the fire." Raven's face sunk as a look of worry crept on his expression.

"What? No no no you have to cook them right or you can't eat them." Raven ran off back to the house to 'save' their breakfast. Rena giggled and began to make her way back too, but was stopped when Eve grabbed her by the arm when she walked by. A little puzzled, Rena looked at Eve.

"I want to make Raven my King when I bring back the Nasod race." She said bluntly. Rena was caught completely off guard and opened her eyes wide while a little red in the face.

"B-But you just said-"

"I know what I said, but I now see I have you as a rival." Eve said as she turned to face Rena who was visibly taller than her. "I want to make it clear I'm taking this all the way and thought it fair for you to know as well." Not knowing how to respond, The two girls just stood in silence for a little bit. Eve took it as a sign of the message getting through and turned to make way back to the house. Rena stood alone for a while longer as she still processed what was just told to her. She shook her head and gathered herself before rushing back to Raven's place where he stood over his fire place as he cooked the fish.

"Ah there you are Rena." The black haired man said. "Want some fish?" Rena looked at Eve who was sitting close by drinking some tea.

"No thanks, actually, I came here to ask you to come to Elder with me." Eve lifted her gaze and from her tea and listened to Rena.

"Umm, howcome?" Raven asked a little hesitant. He wanted to stay as far away from civilization until his arm was better.

"Well." Rena said as she swayed back and forth as she took, her hands fidgeting behind her. "It's just been so long since everyone else had seen you, I thought it would be nice to get the group together and catch up." She said, ending with a smile. Raven looked up as he though and sighed.

"Alright, but just for a few days."

"Good, I was running short on supplies anyway, I'll go pack my things. "eve said as she took one last sip from her tea and stood up. Both Raven and Rena looked a little surprised.

"I don't recall inviting you." Rena said as she narrowed her eyes at Eve.

"Were you planning on leaving me out of a reunion of the El search party? Besides." Eve said as she ran back and hugged Raven around the arm. "I have to be close to Raven if I am to fix him up." Eve held a smug smirk on her face as Rena looked angry in turn. Lightning sparked between Eve and Rena's eyes and Raven only sweat as he wondered just what he got himself into.


	6. Finally, a Peaceful Day

The morning sun slowly rose over the inn window at Elder. The sunlight gently shun against Raven's eye, slowly waking him. The half nasod blinked a few times and looked around the room. For two days he, Eve, and Rena traveled back to Elder where they would meet up with the others. Since they had arrived at night they simply all went to the inn for rest. Raven made mental calculations in his head.

_According to the position of the inn...and the way the sunlight is peering through the window...I'd have to say it's around 7:28. Five more minutes should be fine._

Raven slowly turned over in his bed to keep his eyes from the bright sun, but as he did he noticed a certain pair of yellow eyes looking at him. He and Eve laid there in silence for a few seconds before the black haired man spoke.

"Eve...why are you in my bed?" Raven asked as he began to lightly sweat.

"I got cold last night."

"Why not just get another cover from the closet in your room?"

"..."

"..."

"Didn't feel like it."

As if the gods decided to pick on him, the door to his room slammed open.

"Good morning Raven!" Screamed out Rena who came to greet him bright and early. Raven began to sweat more and more. He looked back and forth at Eve who was still tucked in bed and Rena who wasn't too happy to see what was in front of her. Raven soon realized he was still lying in bed with Eve. He quickly jumped out of bed and said.

"No no no, It's not what you think!" As he clumsily jumped out, he brought the cover with him, revealing Eve in her undergarments. Raven's face flushed as he tried to push words out of mouth.

"Wha-wha-why are you half naked?...AGAIN?"

"Do you expect me to sleep in my normal attire?" Eve said as she sat up. Raven was preparing a rebottle but he suddenly felt a killing intent upon him. He looked over at at the door way where Rena was slowly walking towards them in a very intimidating way.

* * *

Raven, Eve and Rena were all having breakfast at the inn's dining hall, both him and Eve having a large bump on their heads. Raven looked to his left and saw his elf friend with her cheeks puffed up and eyes closed as she ate her food. He looked to his right and there sat Eve who was also eating like nothing had happened at all. Though he was hungry, he wasn't exactly in the mood to eat. He sighed and just sat there staring at his food. He was so distracted he didn't notice a certain blondie approach his table.

"Why the long face Raven?" Chung asked as he swiped a piece of bacon from Raven's plate. The black haired guy quickly looked up and seemed happy to see a friendly face.

"Chung, it's been a while." Raven said as he stood to greet the former guardian.

"I'll say, I was beginning to think we had lost you to the wild lands." He said as he took a bite from the bacon. "Rena here was so worked up about having been away from you for so long." He finished with a wink. The elf quickly turned red and stood up.

"I was not!" Raven turned to look at her which only flustered her more. "I'm done with the food." She said as she grabbed the plate and quickly walked out. Chung smiled at himself as Rena ran out leaving Raven a little confused. Chung then turned to Eve and said.

"It's nice to see you too Eve, You don't know how much I've missed how you worked on my Freiturnier." Eve simply continued to chew her food as Raven spoke.

"Eve worked on your armor?"

"Yeah, she has magic hands when it comes to technology, and my armor needed to be upgraded a few times." Chung said with a huge grin.

"It's not magic, its skill." Eve finally said as she stood and joined the guys. "And its apparent that you could use my handiwork. It's only been a few weeks, how could you have let Fruiturnier get in such a bad state?" Eve said as she grabbed only the shoulder plate of Chung's armor. The blonde could only look away and sweat as he said.

"Well...I took some damage during a fight and thought Echo could help with repairs..." As if on cue, his mind flashed back to the event that took place and horrible images of Echo chasing him with a screwdriver and drill. Eve quickly puts her index finger to his lips to shut him up as she further inspects his white armor. Chung visibly blushes and Raven couldn't help but chuckle at himself. Once Eve gets going on a project she won't rest so he knew that he was off the hook for at least a few hours and as he sneaked away Chung's face began to pale. He did NOT want to be left alone with Eve, god knows she might do worse than Echo as he began to say something Eve place a more forceful pressure on his mouth, warning him to keep quiet. He could only watch in horror as his only escape, Raven, just sneaked away.

* * *

Once outside Raven could breathe easy. It had been too long since last he had a moment to himself. He stretched his arms out and yawned as he took a few steps forward. Being in a busy city was almost foreign to him considering how long he had stayed in isolation back in the house he built. He was taken aback by all sounds and smells the city had to offer. The laughter of children caught his ears and he followed it to a park where he saw a small group of them kick around a ball. They were _trying_ to play soccer, but it was though none of them actually knew the rules and were just kicking it around. Raven sweat slightly and continued to walk when suddenly one of the kids accidently kicked the ball towards him. By reflex he caught the with his nasod arm.

"Hey mister, can you throw it back?" One of the kids screamed out to him. Raven looked at the ball in his hand and smiled slightly he did as he was asked and gently threw it back to them. From a cafe nearby he could hear people start to talk.

"Hey, isn't that the Reckless Fist?" One man said.

"Shhh, he'll hear you."

"I thought he was out in the moutains."

Raven couldn't help but feel like the odd man out. He kept his head down and began to walk off, but before he could get far someone for the cafe opened the door.

"Hey Raven!" A female voice shouted out to him. He turned and saw Aisha waving at him with a large smile. He felt relieved and walked over to her.

"Hello there Aisha, it's been a while."

"I know! We've missed you Raven." The purple haired girl said as she looked up at him. "When did you arrive at Elder?"

"Just last night. Rena said she wanted to reunite the El search party." He and Aisha walked inside and sat at the table she had been sitting at, it was next to a window where he saw the park from earlier.

"I come here every day, it has the best short cakes." Aisha added with a wink. Raven chuckled and ordered something to eat, he was starving since he had skipped breakfast. The two began to cath up and he told her about Eve and how she wanted to help fix his arm.

"Yeah, I remember she came by one day to ask about you. What do you think about her plan?" Raven, who was taking a sip of coffee when she asked immediately spit it out on the spot.

"Wh-what do you mean?" He asked. _Does she know about the 'king and queen' thing Eve is planning?_ He asked himself.

"You know, about bringing back a peaceful nasod race. Sure it's a nice idea, but do you think it's possible?" Raven's mind began to ease as he regained his composure.

"I think so, Eve is amazing with computers, and that's what nasods are, just very self aware computers. If she can program them in a way to make them, and keep them peaceful there shouldn't be a problem."

"Yeah you're right." The rest of the breakfast went by fast and soon after Aisha left to go help at the school like most days. As Raven saw her walk away he felt a strange feeling of nostalgia. Like the peaceful days he had when he was captain of the Velder army. His left arm sent a small shock across his body and he quickly took hold of it. His arm was a cruel reminder that those days were history, or at least until it's fixed. He stretched it out and walked off somewhere. He didn't care where, just away. It wasn't long before he found a quiet place. He sat on the stone bench and looked up at the light shining through the leaves of the tree that extended its branches over the bench. It was surreal to him. Though it had been weeks since peace had returned, Raven had never actually taken part in it. He had been too busy just trying to stay away from civilization to enjoy the moment. He laid down and closed his eyes. The smooth breeze gently moved his hair and his breathing smoothened. He quickly found himself drifting into sleep.


	7. Getting back into it

Raven ran through an all too familiar fog. His hands were sweaty and his throat dry. As he ran he could feel yellow eyes leering at him. He came to a halt and raised his blade.

"Come out and fight!" He demanded as the fog began to clear ever so slightly. In front of him stood a figure still too blurred by the white fog. It carried a thin blade which it readied to strike. Raven returned the stance in kind and his own yellow eyes met the ones of his opponent. At once they both leaped forward and clashed blade. The sheer power of their blades making contact blew the fog away and all at once the figure came into light. Raven's eyes opened wide as he stared into his own reflection. Or at least something that looked like him. The Raven in front of him shared his face but had a more combed hairstyle and wore a thick white coat. Their blades slid against each other and created sparks as they passed by one another. Landing on opposite sides of where forest they were fighting in, the fog began to bleed back into their area around them. Raven could barely squeeze out his words as the figure began to be covered up in fog again.

"You...You're."

"Raven." The figure said.

* * *

"Raven!" At once Raven woke up, his face sweaty and his heart beating faster than ever. "Raven!" He turned and saw a face he was happy to see. A certain red head stood beside the bench he was napping on. The half nasod shook his head and recomposed himself.

"You alright there?" Elsword asked looking kind off worried. Raven quickly sat up and responded.

"Yeah, just….a bad dream." He took a second and looked at his comrade and smiled to himself before standing up. "Look at you. All grown up now." Raven stood, still taller than Elsword, but not by much anymore. "You hit a growth spurt there?" Raven said as he muffled his friend's hair. Playfully Elsword swiped Raven's hand away and raised his fists, throwing a few gentle jabs at him.

"You wanna go at it old timer?" As if all of Raven's troubles had gone away, he smiled and raise his hands as well.

"Getting cocky there aren't we?"

"You're right. WE are." Elsword said before busting out laughing, Raven joining in as well. They stood at ease and Elsword extended his hand towards the dark haired man.

"It's good to see you Raven." Raven extended his own and shock hands.

"It's good to see you too." Elsword let go and turned to pick up a crate that was next to them.

"I was actually in the middle of a supply run, Elder is stocking up on supplies since the whole El fiasco left it dry of resources."

"Yeah, I heard. I also heard that you've taken charge of the army, captain of the guard." Elsword grinned and scratched the back of his head just before lifting the crate.

"Word travels fast I see." Elsword said, but all that went through Raven's head was: _And Rena likes to run her mouth…_ But he kept that comment to himself.

"Well, I used to be a captain once upon a time, need any help?"

"Boy do I. Follow me and I'll fill you in on how my life has been since I got back." Raven smirked and followed his red head companion as they began to catch up on how they had lived. As they walked side by side the whole town would turn their heads to see them walk. To them, they were not only the heroes that brought back the El, but also a strange pairing to see. Elsword, who had become calm and collected since his youth was now on the same level as the man that inspired him, however, it was quite the opposite for Raven. He, who used to be calm and collected, became reckless and impulsive. It was like they had traded personalities, but still remained good friends.

They soon arrived at Elswords destination; the soldier's training ground, though unoccupied for afternoon. "….and then they decided to have me give them a private training session…and no one even trained with me! They all just sat there and watched me, it was kinda creepy." Elsword finished as he put down the supplies.

"I know how you feel; Series would get so mad at me when girls asked the same of me." Elsword turned to him and looked a little puzzled.

"Why would she get mad? It's only a training session. And they don't even train." Raven stood quiet as Elsword continued to tidy up the supplied he had brought back.

"Just how dense are you?..." Raven asked in a shushed voice.

"What was that?" Elsword asked as returned to continue his conversation.

"No nothing, anyway, I see you've kept training still."

"Yup, don't want to get rusty now do I? What about you? Heard you retired all together."

"Apart from hunting, I have."

"How come? You always looked like you liked combat." Raven had a sudden flashback to his little 'moment' at Altera's Core. He shook the thought out of his and looked away.

"Yes…but for the wrong reasons." Elsword looked confused and concerned as silence fell between them. He looked around and saw two sparring swords nearby and a smile stretched across his face.

"Catch." Elsword said, Raven turned to see a sword flying towards him. Though startled, his muscles moved on their own and he caught it midflight out of reflex.

"What's this for?" Raven asked as Elsword stepped into the sparring circle and said.

"One match, just one sparring match like old times." Eslword said as lifted his sparring sword in a fighting stance Raven hadn't seen in a long time. He sighed and smiled before readying his sword as well.

"Remember. You asked for it!"

* * *

Rena, who was currently dragging Eve and Chung by their collars, had a very irritated look on her face.

"Honestly, who would start such a commotion at an inn? We'll be lucky if we're ever allowed back in, let alone be able to stay the night!" Chung who was still crying tears of pain raised his hand as to speak.

"But Renaaaaa, was I supposed to just sit there while Eve performed open heart surgery on me?"

"The procedure would have been completely safe." Eve replied just as quickly as Chung's words left his mouth.

"How exactl- You know what? I don't even want to know you're outrageous explanation."

"But it's not outrageous, according to my studies; once I put you into a deep coma your heart would enter a state where it would be optimal for a surgical transplant." Chung's face became more pale than normal as he heard Eve speak. Getting fed up with the 'noise' they were making, Rena shouted out.

"Both of you be quiet! It's like neither of you had grown up at all! You should take some notes from Elsword and mature a bit!" Rena's words pierced though both Chung and Eve as they were being dragged. To think that, considering how they all started out, Elsword would reach a higher state of maturity than them was more of an insult than anything else. As their bickering died down, Rena's ears picked up grunts from nearby, voices that she hadn't heard in quite a while. Rena peek over a bush and was soon followed by Eve and Chung as well. As they hid they saw Raven and Elsword clash swords. Though they had seen them perform morning training before, seeing it now had a certain sense of nostalgia.

Raven, though comfortable in his sparring match with Elsword, relied only on his blade rather than his arm like he would in normal combat. Their swords clashed together once more and the sand beneath them shook ever so slightly. The red head changed the position of his hands on the sword's handle and twisted his sword into another slash. Raven's sword was sent to the side, leaving him wide open. Elsword tried to follow up with a stab but the half nasod used shadow step to move back in time to evade the attack before lundging forward in a slash of his own. Elsword jumped forward in a roll, just barely evading the sword's slash by jumping over it. As he stood back up Raven readied another attack.

The two swordsmen were very much enjoying their spar; it was something both of them had missed most about finishing their adventure. They clashed their swords together once more, this time both kept in position as they spoke, the steel of their swords creating small sparks as they exchanged words.

"You've gotten better it seems." Raven said with a smirk.

"I did beat you once you know." Elsword replied with a smirk of his own. Raven put more force into his sword and pushed Elsword back.

"Right, but keep in mind it was only because I was under control of my nasod arm, you haven't beat me since!" Raven changed at Elsword in a stabbing motion. The red head jumped up high and twisted his body as he slashed. In a subconscious movement, Raven twisted his body mid step and slashed backwards, parrying Elsword's strike. As if time had slowed down in that moment, they locked eyes and slowly readied another strike in their minds, it was now or never. Raven placed a foot behind him to regain balance then lunged forward in a sideward slash. Elsword landed in a crouching position, his sword at his side as if sheathed then he leaped forward in a 'sheathing slash' motion. Rena, Chung, and Eve all looked in awe as they saw the match finish.

Elsword smiled at himself before falling to his knees, his hand at his left shoulder, Raven's strike taking some effect on him. The sword he had been using laid on the ground in pieces from being clutched in Raven's nasod hand. Raven looked down at his left hand that had utterly destroyed the sparring sword. Rena quickly jumped out from behind the bush and hurried to Elsword who was beginning to stand.

"Oh Goodness! Are you alright Elsword?!" Rena asked as he came to his side. Smiling, he responded.

"It's nothing to worry about. That was one hell of a strike Raven." Raven threw the sword to the side and moved closer to his friend.

"Are you sure? For some reason I didn't hold back in that strike."

"Don't worry about it, that was shoulder guards are for." Elsword said still smiling. His lingering grin seemed to put Raven at ease but he still felt a little bad about it.

"I was just really not expecting you to use weapon break at that moment, guess I still have a lot to learn huh?" Looking to redeem himself for hurting Elsword, Raven said.

"Then how about we start morning training again?" At once Elsword's face lit up and he somehow miraculously got better because he jumped over to Raven and bear hugged him.

"I'll…take that as a yes…" Raven barely managed to say as his insides were slowly being squeezed out. Chung, who had come out from behind the bush along with Eve, joined in on the hug.

"Woot woot! Male bonding time!" His face being squeezed between Elsword's and Chung's, Raven began to question his decision. He began to see a pattern to how his days were ending and he wasn't sure he liked what he saw, but he felt happy at least, so why not? _What could possibly go wrong? _He thought to himself. Eve, turned around and summoned a drone to look at the information she acquired from the sparring match she witnessed.

"Hmmm." She said to herself.


End file.
